Ace in the Hole

by Sedonia Guillone

Wei Yen clenched her teeth. “Go back now. See what you can learn by dawn.”

  His hands tightened into fists at his sides, more out of frustration than aggression. He rarely ever expressed his feelings to her. His desire to please her had been his only purpose. But this could only end badly. Even for a powerful creature like Wei Yen, facing Lily Tan, an immortal who’d been able to slay an even more powerful vampire could mean the end of everything he held dear.

  Before he knew what he was doing, he found himself on his knees. “Wei Yen, please. We can be happy together, you and I. Stop this desire for revenge. I implore you. Let it be.”

  Wei Yen scowled at him. She stared into his eyes.

  Zao would not be intimidated.

  She glowered, lips curled back.

  He stared, unmoving.

  She slapped him across the face. Hard.

  His head snapped to the side. He brought himself to face her again and kept his body like a stone.

  She slapped his other cheek. “If you won’t do it, I’ll find another lover who will. Don’t toy with me, Zao.”

  He sighed. To his grief, Wei Yen would make good on her threat. No matter what he did, she took other lovers. She’d wanted the Tibetan on the platform that night, in spite of Zao’s complete devotion.

  “Fine.” Slowly he rose to his feet.

  Her look softened, but the glitter of revenge remained. “That’s more like it.”

  He went to his armoire and changed into coolie clothing so that he could spy on Plum House inconspicuously. He would have to keep his distance. No doubt the Tibetan had smelled him coming even though he hadn’t seemed to recognize Zao from the gaming parlor.

  Wei Yen was back at her dressing table, gazing at herself while her servant, who had returned, ran the comb through her waist-length hair. His mistress afforded him a mere glance.

  He stopped by the door of her bedchamber. “I thought you should know one more thing.”

  She met his eyes in the looking glass. “What is it?”

  “The Tibetan,” he said, wanting to give her one small barb on his departure, “is a vampire.”

  * * * * *

  Two strong hands caressed the swells of her hip in tender circles. The touch stirred her yin cave, made the rain of her essence begin to flow. Tenzin…

  Lily’s head shot up. The erotic touch on her skin was gone. Tenzin wasn’t there. She blinked and passed a hand over her forehead.

  Papers. The dark wooden surface of her desk. She was in her chair. She’d fallen asleep again over her ledgers.

  Trying to ignore the irrational disappointment she felt at Tenzin’s absence, she looked around the room. This had been her father’s office nearly two centuries ago. His own ledgers, the meticulous records he’d kept of his silk and opium exportations, still sat on a shelf in the corner. Even though she’d grown to hate her father, she couldn’t bring herself to discard his books. As a girl, she’d spent many hours sneaking into this office and reading them. He’d resented having an abnormal daughter, one whose feet could not be bound, and so Lily had sought to win his love and respect by learning all she could of his business affairs.

  It hadn’t worked. He’d sold her to Xu Yu anyway.

  Slowly she raised herself from her chair. As she turned to leave the room, Tenzin came to her mind again. A flush of pleasure spread through her. An ache tugged her somewhere in a place she couldn’t identify. The sensation was sweet, yet at the same time, deeply disturbing. She’d barely known him a day, and he seemed to inspire feelings in her she thought she’d buried with her childhood.

  He was so pleasing to look at, his face and body rugged yet refined. He used his hands and mouth tenderly and passionately on her body, and the expressions that passed through his eyes, those deep, fathomless eyes, were unlike any she’d ever seen. Something about the way he looked out at the world and…looked out at her…made her think he already understood the things she taught without realizing it.

  She’d never met a man like him, not even in Wong Fei Hung, the folk healer and teacher who’d helped her master Shaolin fighting techniques. She wanted to enjoy the tender sensations that passed through her when she pictured Tenzin’s face and thought of his unique being. And yet, such feelings were below a Tigress. One who aspired to the heavens in spirit was supposed to leave earthly longings behind…

  She sighed and extinguished the lantern on her desk. Perhaps fatigue was making her maudlin and prone to the desire for romantic entanglement. Perhaps a few hours’ rest would refresh her and strengthen her resolve.

  Locking the study door behind her, Lily made her way through the moonlit courtyard to her chambers. Dawn would be here in a few hours, and Tenzin would return to the compound.

  Damn, she wished she weren’t so looking forward to that moment.

  * * * * *

  Perhaps I was better off without a teacher. Tenzin watched the first hint of dawn light the sky. The other brothels had quieted down, and only an occasional drunk straggler moved along the main street. Most of the gas lamps had been extinguished by coolies, and a hush had fallen over the quarter.

  Yes, he’d suffered all those years…all those centuries…with his myriad desires, but having a teacher and then losing her seemed far worse than never having known her at all.

  A soft presence came up behind him. Tenzin glanced down into Jade’s large eyes.

  She bowed her head. “It is almost light enough to return to the compound,” she said softly.

  He nodded. “Are there any…men left here?”

  “Only one. He will be leaving presently.”

  Tenzin’s gut clenched. Each passing second brought him closer to telling Lily the truth. Closer to losing her forever. Though she was probably sleeping now, he would need to speak with her at first light.

  In moments, the customer left with a bow.

  “We’re ready now.”

  Tenzin felt a soft tap at his elbow. The five women who’d harvested yang from their customers that night were assembled behind him. Feeling burdened with the weight of impending grief, he nodded and led them outside, back to the compound.

  Once inside, Tenzin saw the women to their rooms and then started for his sleeping quarters. He hadn’t rested at all in an entire day, and even his vampiric system felt a bit run down.

  Softly he walked along the corridor that led to his small room, but he couldn’t ignore the ache that made him want to go to Lily…even if just to be closer to her.

  The courtyard was quiet. In a corner of the compound, Tenzin saw a servant walking down one corridor carrying a bucket of steaming water. Muffled voices emanated from distant rooms, the sounds of a household awakening and for the ladies of Plum House turning in.

  He reached the doorway to Lily’s rooms. His heart gave a pound against his chest, and he hovered near the doorway. It would be unheard of for him simply to enter her room uninvited. He couldn’t let his overwhelming need to see her take over. He bowed his head and stood, eyes closed.

  “Tenzin.”

  His head popped up.

  “Oh, Tenzin.” Lily’s voice came from deep within.

  Goose bumps erupted on his arms.

  “Tenzin, please.”

  His blood went cold. Perhaps she was in pain. He pushed open the door, driven by pure instinct to answer a call for help.

  Lily’s sleeping chamber was dark and cool from the lingering night air. He froze in the doorway and looked toward her bed, where the sighs and murmurs came from.

  “Lily,” he whispered. He could just discern the outline of her form on the bed, amidst the scarlet riot of bed pillows and silk coverlets. As he drew closer, he saw her long ebony hair spilled across the pillow. Her head moved back and forth.

  “Tenzin,” she whispered.

  Every muscle tense, he drew closer. His breath caught in his throat.

  Naked. She was naked. Her body writhed softly in what appeared the throes of a dream. She whispered his name again.

  Tenzin’s blood
began to heat. Immediate desire stirred in his groin and strengthened. His dragon surged and tightened, growing harder as he watched the contours of the leaping tiger on her body ripple with the erotic movements of her hips. The tiger’s belly, fully visible revealed her gleaming yin petals. Each thrust of Lily’s hips released her musky female scent.

  His mouth watered, and he stared, riveted, at Lily.

  His inner voice surged. No! He shut his eyes and turned. It was wrong to stare at her that way while she slept. And yet…

  He opened his eyes toward the bed. She thrust her hips up and whispered his name. His dragon pushed hard against his trousers now. His heartbeat increased with the knowledge she dreamed of him. As far as he knew, no woman had ever taken him so deeply into her consciousness as to continue to think of him in sleep.

  That understanding alone drove him to take a step closer. And another step.

  Before he could stop himself, he found himself at Lily’s bedside. Her scent swirled in his head and caused blood to pound through every inch of his body. His fists curled with the tension of his inner battle, yet he was losing quickly and dropped to his knees, just to be closer…

  Her warm body emitted its sweet aroma, mingled with the lingering trace of incense she always seemed to burn. He ached to taste her lips, her skin, her dark, taut nipples that jutted upward, so close to him all he had to do was lean over a tiny bit…

  Hands grabbed him. Tenzin felt his body in a firm grip. He was sinking onto warm softness before he realized what had happened.

  He yanked back. She pulled harder.

  “Tenzin, please,” she whispered.

  He caught a flash of her dark eyes wide open, locked onto his. Desire surged like liquid fire through his loins. He pressed his lips onto hers and tasted her wildly. She answered with the hot lick of her tongue against his. Her hands slid from their grip on his arms around his back and down, over his buttocks.

  He groaned. Lily’s softness and the way she melted underneath him made him wild. She no longer seemed like the controlled teacher, the reserved Tigress who doled out pleasure, but a woman, a soft, yielding woman who was giving her body to him, sharing the sweetness of her gifts with him, and who wanted to be joined with him completely.

  Without thinking, he reached down and pulled the tie of his trousers. Keeping his tongue entwined with Lily’s, he used one hand to yank down his trousers and tilted his hips forward, instinctively seeking the moist warmth of her cave with his dragon. The head found Lily’s slippery opening, and he pushed it in.

  Lily moaned. She pulled her legs open wider and clutched his behind.

  “Yes,” she whispered. Her yin cave held him with a suction that ripped reason from him. She tightened and relaxed her lower muscles in a rhythm that invited him deeper, drove him to continue.

  He pushed. Her sex was so wet, so deliciously open, the slick channel swallowed his aching dragon with mind-blowing ease. A hot slide of pleasure radiated from his dragon down his balls and through his whole body as he sheathed himself completely in her wet, slippery heat.

  Joined. Their bodies were joined. The closest two bodies could be without becoming one body. She felt so hot, so right, so ‑‑

  Lily stiffened underneath him. Her thighs tightened around his waist, and she squeezed hard on his hipbones, forcing his pelvis in the opposite direction. Her hands flew to his shoulders, and she pushed at him.

  Lily’s awareness slammed onto the sensation of fullness in her jade cave. Holy gods! Penetration. She had to get him off of her!

  And yet, when she pushed her thighs into Tenzin’s slim hips, her mind blurred. The tiniest movement sent a swirl of pleasure through her womb, and she experienced confusion, uncertainty in which direction to push him.

  He stared down at her, lips parted. Sweat beaded on his brow, and his chest heaved.

  He was inside her.

  Another moment passed, and then her mind cleared. Penetration was forbidden to Tigresses for the act robbed them of life force. Yet even if that had not been a tenet, no man was to possess her body in the same way Xu Yu had, especially a man who would come upon her in her sleep this way.

  She pulled back, a sharp movement that made his dragon slip out of her. Heat tingled through her cave. The strange absence irritated her. “What were you doing?”

  Tenzin sat back. His flushed skin darkened yet more. He bowed his head. “I’m sorry, Lily. Please forgive me. I forgot myself.”

  She yanked the bedclothes up over her breasts and glared. She felt deeply exposed, as if her being were as naked to him as her body.

  “I’m sorry, Lily,” Tenzin said again, more softly than before. Sorrow laced his voice.

  In the silence that followed, she tried to ignore the pulsing in her sex, as if her body still craved the fullness of his dragon inside her. Damn her yin for softening this way.

  Throwing down the covers, she launched from the bed. “This isn’t going to work.” She snapped up her robe, and threw it on. Wrapping it tightly around her front, she began to pace.

  “What do you mean, Lily? What isn’t going to work?”

  The panic in his voice made her turn. Immediately she had to look away. Whether Tenzin had meant to look like a beaten puppy, she didn’t know. She took a deep breath. “I was wrong to accept you as a student. You’ve taken advantage.” An image from her dream resurged. Yes, in her sleep she’d been making passionate love with Tenzin, but to wake up and find him between her legs, like a thief…

  Tenzin leaped off the bed and was on his knees at her feet. His upturned face was frantic. “No, Lily. I beg you. I can do better. Don’t cast me out.”

  She turned away from him, afraid of the weakness in her. She knew he’d think she was turning her back on him, but she couldn’t let him see her shame. “I’m sorry, but I must curtail our training. I told you yesterday that there is no penetration. And yet…”

  He gasped. “No, Lily, please. I’ve been around the entire world. You are my teacher. I cannot excuse my behavior. Please.”

  She closed her eyes, steeled herself to refuse him again. Never in her life had anyone, man or woman, begged her this way. She wanted to think him pathetic, without dignity, but the sincere desperation in his plea touched her. He was telling the truth. However, truth or not, she couldn’t let herself…

  “No. You will find another teacher.” She stepped away. “You’re a sincere student. Any teacher would be honored to have you.”

  Silence answered her. The energy in the room shifted, grew still.

  Lily’s heart lurched. Slowly she turned.

  Tenzin still knelt on the floor, his face a mask of sorrow. One teardrop rolled down the smooth plane of his cheek and dropped off the edge of his jaw. Holding his trousers closed with one hand, he rose to his feet, head bowed. “If you wish in your heart for me to leave, I will,” he said softly.

  Lily stared at him. She parted her lips to say Yes. What stopped her, she didn’t know. Strange as it was considering his crime, she did not utter the word. She sighed and bowed her head. “I cannot work with you. If you wish to rut, you may go to Plum House. I will speak with Jade or one of the other ‑‑”

  “No.”

  The steely tone in Tenzin’s voice made her turn abruptly. Hurt radiated from his eyes, mingled with a touch of defiance that made her insides jump.

  “You’re my teacher, Lily. I want no other.”

  Lily clenched her jaw in spite of the tickle of pleasure his answer gave her. “I cannot be your teacher any longer.” Turning, she paced to the window, listening for his retort.

  Silence answered her.

  When she turned back around, he was gone.

  Chapter Eleven

  The Tigress first learns from her mother how to survive. She then has three paths in which to begin her hunt. No matter which path she walks, the Green Dragon is her prey. She gathers the essences of the Dragon and Tiger.

  ‑‑ Madame Lin from The White Tigress Manual

  Lily remai
ned tucked away in her study the entire day. She managed to finish her monthly books, and then sat for a long time in meditation. She had Fei Liu take over the classes while she took time to collect herself and to reflect on what had happened.

  Pacing the length of the ornate carpet on the study floor, she curled her hands into fists. To think that Tenzin had mounted her in her sleep, as if he’d known her dream and wished to take advantage. And yet, the stricken expression in his eyes when she’d pushed him away, the contrition in his entire demeanor, neither were characteristics of a man in the process of rape. Were they?

  She shook her head as if to jar herself from the wisps of doubt that threatened her resolve. Men were capable of all sorts of things, no matter how decent they appeared. Tenzin was a man who’d suppressed his visceral needs for a long time. In spite of his recent release of excess yang, no doubt there was much more stored away that the Tigress practices hadn’t yet tapped.

  The only thing that wasn’t Tenzin’s fault was the fact that she’d been dreaming of him. Erotically. Passionately. Their naked bodies entwined. She’d wanted nothing more than the thrust of his dragon deep inside her and his lips on hers as their bodies moved against each other’s in a sweet rhythm.

  To her chagrin, the actual sensation of his thickness filling her sex had not been unpleasant in the least. But what the act represented…she could not get past that. At least ‑‑

  A memory of Tenzin’s grief-filled expression surfaced. She tried to shrug it away and could not. He’d seemed genuinely wounded by her suggestion to find release in Plum House. Her words to him echoed in her mind, making her cringe. She sighed, shoulders sagging. How was it she was breaking down, feeling sorry, for him?

  She took a long sip of tea from the cup on her desk, and then rang for the servant who’d brought it earlier. She couldn’t work with Tenzin, but she could at least apologize for offending him. After all, she was a Tigress, and a Tigress was gracious no matter what offense had been given her.

  Old Chan, another of her servants, entered the room and bowed.

  “Please fetch my student, and tell him I wish to see him.”